“This morning, I received a call from the BOJ Gov. (Masaaki) Shirakawa,” said the 58-year-old lawmaker during a short statement to the press, at the LDP’s 2 p.m. policy meeting. Mr. Abe continued: “He (Mr. Shirakawa) reported the result of today’s policy board meeting.”

The statement baffled reporters. Namely because the BOJ meeting hadn’t ended until past noon. How could Mr. Abe discuss the result of a meeting that hadn’t yet ended? Giving Mr. Abe an exclusive preview of the meeting’s conclusions isn’t an option either. BOJ officials aren’t supposed to tell anybody about the meeting’s results until after it’s formally announced. That was at shortly after 1 p.m.

BOJ officials were quick to refute what they characterized as Mr. Abe’s misstatement. One official even approached a Wall Street Journal reporter at the BOJ covering the policy meeting to make clear that Mr. Shirakawa made the telephone call after the meeting, offering to speak on record—a rare occasion for the bank officials who normally refuse to be quoted, even anonymously.

“I called Prime Minister (Yoshihiko) Noda and Mr. Abe after the policy board meeting,” Mr. Shirakawa said in his press conference later that day. “That was around 1:30 pm.”

Confused reporters had to wait two hours until Mr. Abe’s own party meeting ended to get clarity. Was he mistaken about the time of the phone call, or did he just let out a huge problematic statement even before his administration was officially in office?

When he finally came out, surrounded by secret service and aides, reporters crowded around him in the short 10-meter or so walk from the entrance of the room to the elevator. Did the central bank governor call him in the morning?

Mr. Abe: “I, well, I think now, it may not have been in the a.m.”

Reporter: “Do you not know?”

To which Mr. Abe quickly responded, “Afternoon, yes, it was in the afternoon.” An aide next to him repeated, “It was after (the meeting) ended. After,” before ushering him into the elevator.

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